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COFXRIGHT DEPOSm 



THREE 
JEWISH MARTYRS 

I. John the Baptist 
II. Jesus the Reformer 
III. Paul the Apostle 

O. W. COURSEY 

<iAuthor of 
School Law Digest, History and Geography of the 
P. I., The Woman with a Stone Heart, Biography 
of General Beadle, The Philippines and Filipinos, 
Biography of Senator Kittredge, Literature of 
South Dakota, Winning Orations (Thirty- four), 
Who's Who in South Dakota (Vol. I), Who's Who 
in South Dakota (Vol. II), Who's Who in South 
Dakota (Vol. Ill), Just a Friend. 




1922 

THE STRATFORD CO., Publishers 
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 



^3^ 
^^"^.c. 



Copyrighted 
1922 

By O. W. Coursey 



^CI.A659489 

-4 IS22 

'Wo / 



t~<i CO 






Dedicatory 

In Memory of my saintly Grandfather 

The Reverend William Coursey 

whose eloquent lips for over forty years poured 
forth from the pulpit words of praise and wis- 
dom concerning the sturdy characters of these 

THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 



THEEE JEWISH MAETYKS 



Preface 

In the preparation of this book, I unhesitatingly 
acknowledge my indebtedness to Miss Edla Laurson, 
Public Librarian of my home city. 

0. W. COURSEY, 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 



Foreword 

This is a human book dealing with human beings — 
even including Jesus, although he did have the char- 
acter of God. 

It was written for home libraries, and for day 
schools, rather than for Sunday Schools, although the 
Sunday School teacher will find it valuable for quick 
reference. 

The Biblical quotations in Chapter I (John) and 
those in Chapter III (Paul) are taken from the Ortho- 
dox version; those in Chapter II (Jesus) — especially 
the more lengthy ones — are taken from the Eevised 
version. 0. W. C. 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER 






PAGE 


I. John the Baptist 11 


II. Jesus the Rerformer . 






18 


Ancestry: 






. 19 


Euth .... 






19 


David .... 






20 


Birth and Childhood 






21 


Family .... 






22 


Later Years 






26 


Twelve Apostles 






. 26 


Life Divisions . 






27 


Miracles .... 






28 


Parables . .' . 






. 30 


Beatitudes .... 




34-35 


Lord's Prayer .... 




36-37 


Passion Week . 




. 38 


The Last Supper . 






. 40 


In Gethsemane 






, 41 


The Betrayal 






. 42 


The Thirty Pieces of Silver 






43 


The Arrest . 






. 50 


Trials of Jesus : . 






. 51 


Jewish Trials . 






51 


Eoman Trials . 






, 53 


Errors in the Trials . 






57 


The Crucifixion . 






62 


The Burial . 






67 


In the Tomb 






67 


Christ's Resurrection . 






68 


His Ascension 






71 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



III. 



The Harmony of Devotion 






72 


Physical Appearance of Jesus 




, 74 


Paul the Apostle 




78 


Trial Before Felix . 








86 


Trial Before Festus . 








89 


Trial Before Agrippa 








. 90 


Trip to Rome . 








. 93 


In Rome 








. 96 


Recapitulation . 








. 99 



List of Illustrations 





PAGE 


Head of John the Baptist 


17 


Christ Disputing with the Doctors . 


22 ^■ 


Christ in Gethsemane 


41 


The Betrayer's Kiss 


43 


Christ of the Nations . . . . 


. 74' 


St. Paul 


84 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

I. John the Baptist. 
II. Jesus the Reformer. 
III. Paul the Apostle. 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 
I. JOHN THE BAPTIST 

In the year 6 B. C, there was living in Judea an 
aged Jewish priest whose name was Zacharias. His 
wife's name was Elizabeth. They were a splendid 
old couple. Luke says of them (1:6): ^^They were 
both righteous before God, walking in all the com- 
mandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless." 

But they had never had any children. This made 
them sorrowful in their old days. One day when 
Zacharias was burning incense in the temple, while 
the multitude waited outside, he prayed that some- 
how a little babe might be sent of God to their home 
to bless the old days of himself and wife. 

Suddenly ^Hhere appeared unto him an angel of 
the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of 
incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was 
troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel 
said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is 
heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, 
and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt 
have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his 
birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the 
Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink ; 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost." (Luke 
1:1M5.) 

Zacharias doubted what the angel had said to him 
and they got into a dispute. Finally the angel said 
to him: ^'I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of 
God, and am sent to speak to thee and to shew thee 
these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb 
and not able to speak until the day that these things 
shall be performed, because thou believest not my 
words which shall be fulfilled in their season. And 
the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that 
he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came 
out, he could not speak unto them; and they per- 
ceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; for 
he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless." 
(Luke 1:19-22.) 

In due time the little babe was born; and Luke 
declares that Elizabeth's ^^ neighbors and her cousins 
heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon 
her, and they rejoiced with her." (Luke 1:58.) 

On the eighth day, as was customary among the 
Jews, the rabbi came in and christened him '^Zacha- 
rias, after the name of his father." To this Elizabeth 
objected and said: ''Not so; but he shall be called 
John. And they said unto her. There is none of thy 
kindred that is called by this name. And they made 
signs to his father, how he would have him called. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST 

And lie asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, 
His name is John. And they marveled all. And his 
mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, 
and he spake, and praised God." (Luke 1 : 60-64.) 

^^And his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy 
Ghost and prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord 
God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his 
people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us 
in the house of his servant David ; as he spake by the 
mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the 
world began ; that we should be saved from our 
enemies and from the hand of all that hate us ; to per- 
form the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remem- 
ber his holy covenant ; the oath which he sware to our 
father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that 
we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies 
might serve him without fear, in holiness and right- 
eousness before him, all the days of our life, and thou, 
child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for 
thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare 
his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his 
people by the remission of their sins, through the 
tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring 
from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that 
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide 
our feet into the way of peace. 

^^And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, 

[13] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto 
Israel." (Lukel: 67-80.) 

John 's mother and Mary — the mother of Jesus — 
were cousins. John and Jesus were, therefore, blood 
relatives — second cousins, a term denoting distant re- 
lationships. John was, however, only six months older 
than Jesus. 

The coming of John was prophesied by Isaiah 700 
years before his advent into life; ^^The voice of him 
crying in the mlderness. Make straight the paths of 
the Lord" (Isa. 40:3). In the Gospel of St. John 
(one of the disciples) 1 : 6, it states : ''There was a man 
sent from God whose name was John." 

He was born in Juttah, near Hebron, in Judea, 
B. C. 5. At thirty years of age, according to the 
Jewish custom, as set forth in Numbers 4:3, he en- 
tered the ministry. Because he preached the doctrine 
of Baptism, and baptized thousands of people in the 
river Jordan, he came to be known as John the 
Baptist. 

He was a Nazarite, and as such he conformed to all 
the rules of the sect; that is, he wore his hair and 
beard long, dressed in coarse clothes and ate coarse 
food. He was, in the fullest sense of the term, a re- 
production of Elijah of old ; and as such he stood out 
in bold relief as a leader in his day. 

His preaching was so powerful, and he soon 



JOHN THE BAPTIST 

attained such a large following, that a great many 
who heard him became convinced that he, himself, was 
the promised Messiah, whose coming had been fore- 
told by Micah and Isaiah. 

St. John 1:19 states: ^'And this is the record of 
John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from 
Jerusalem to ask him. Who art thou?" The next 
stanza says : '^He confessed, I am not the Christ." In 
the 27th verse he states : ^ ' He it is, who, coming after 
me, is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am 
not worthy to unloose. ' ' Matthew 3 : 11, puts it in 
this form: ^'I (John) indeed baptize you with water 
unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is 
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : 
he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with 
fire." 

^'Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto 
John, to be baptized of him." (Matt. 3 : 13.) 

^^And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up 
straightway out of the water ; and lo, the heavens were 
opened unto him, and he saw the spirit of God des- 
cending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a 
voice from heaven saying, ' This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased. ' ' ' 

This — the greatest event in John's life (the bap- 
tism of Jesus) and apparently one of the main pur- 
poses for which God had miraculously called him into 

[15] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

being — occurred in January, A. D. 27, during the 
second year of his ministry. Jesus, himself, later 
testified to John's worth (Matt. 11:11) by saying, 
'^ Verily I say unto you. Among them that are born 
of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the 
Baptist." 

At the time of John's ministry, Herod Antipas 
was ruling in Judea. He was a low-minded man. 

He divorced his own wife; then he persuaded his 
brother Philip's wife, Herodias, to leave her husband 
and he married her. She had an attractive daughter 
named Salome, who was a fancy dancer. 

John the Baptist, in his preaching, was outspoken 
against this public scandal and openly denounced 
Herod 's conduct as a social crime. He said to Herod : 
^^It is not lawful for thee to have her." This made 
Herodias angry and she persuaded Herod to shut John 
up in prison, which he did. This ended John's 
ministry at the end of 18 months. 

Herod would have killed John at once, but he feared 
public opinion, as John was decidedly popular and 
had a considerable following. Therefore, he confined 
him for a whole year in the Castle of Machaerus. 

Finally, Herod reached another birthday. He cele- 
brated it with a party. His company was being enter- 
tained by Salome, his new stepdaughter, who was 
doing a fancy dance for them. Her agility and danc- 

[i6] 




HEAD OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 

(Lyonnese Tile, British Museum. — Courtesy of 
Oxford University Press) 

^^And his head was brought in on a charger^ and 
given to the damsel; and she brought it to her 
mother, (Matt. 14: 11.) 



JOHN THE BAPTIST 

ing so pleased Herod that he promised her, in the 
presence of his guests as witnesses, that she might ask 
anything she pleased — even to the half of his king- 
dom — and he would give it to her. 

Before Salome gave the dance, her mother, Herodias, 
had secretly told her, in case she were asked her price 
for the dancing, to demand the head of John the 
Baptist. 

This she did, when Herod told her he would ^^give 
her whatsoever she would ask. ' ' 

Herod was sorry, but he kept his promise and sent 
word to the jailkeeper to behead John. This he did 
promptly and sent the head on a large platter, or 
charger, by a servant, to Salome. She accepted it 
gracefully in the presence of the guests, and then de- 
livered it to her mother. 

His disciples came and took up the body and buried 
it, and went and told Jesus (Matt. 14 : 12) . 

When Jesus heard the sad news, he was greatly 
depressed, so ^^he departed thence by ship into a 
desert place apart." 

Summary 
John's coming was providential. 
He was a great preacher. 
He baptized Jesus. 
He never married. 
He met a martyr's death. 

[17] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 
II. JESUS THE REFORMER 

(Prophecy) 

Micah 5:2, ''But thou, Bethlehem, Ephratah, though 
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet 
out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to 
be the ruler of Israel. ' ' 

Isaiah 7 : 14, '' Therefore, the Lord himself, shall give 
you a sign. Behold a virgin shall (become the 
mother) of a son, and shall call his name 
Immanuel. ' ' 

Isaiah 9:6, ' ' For unto us a child is bom, unto us a 
son is given; and the government shall be upon 
his shoulder; and his name shall be called: 

Wonderful, Counsellor, 
The mighty God, 
The everlasting Father, 
The Prince of Peace." 

Matt. 1 : 21, ''And thou shalt call his name JESUS, for 
he shall save his people from their sins." 

[i8] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

ANCESTRY OF JESUS 

Ruth 

The eighth book of the Old Testament Bible is the 
Idyl of Ruth. 

In it may be found the account of Elimeleck, his 
wife, Naomi, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, 
who were forced to leave Bethlehem, because of a 
famine, and seek sustenance in the land of Moab. 

Shortly after they arrived in Moab, Elimeleck died. 
Then his two sons married two Moabite girls — Ruth 
and Orpah. Not long after their marriages, the two 
sons died. This left the three widows to care for them- 
selves. Naomi decided to leave her two daughters-in- 
law, Ruth and Orpah, in their native land, and return 
to Bethlehem alone ; but Ruth refused to remain, and 
cleaving to Naomi, devoutly she implored: 

'^Entreat me not to leave thee. 
Or to return from following after thee ; 
For whither thou goest, I will go ; 
And where thou lodgest, I will lodge : 
Thy people shall be my people, 
And thy God my God. 
Where thou diest, I will die. 
And there will I be buried : 
The Lord do so to me, and more also, 
If aught but Death part thee and me." 

[19] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Yielding to this pledge of loyalty, Naomi took her 
along. When they reached Bethlehem, Ruth went to 
work in the fields of Boaz, a rich relative of 
Elimeleck's. Through her winsomeness and fidelity, 
she soon found favor in the sight of Boaz, who after- 
wards married her. 

They became the parents of a son whom they named 
Obed. He became the grandfather of David. This 
made Ruth the great-grand-mother of David. And so 
she became one of the lineal ancestors of Jesus. 

David 

David, the youngest of the four sons of Jesse, gained 
distinction during the battle between the Philistines 
and the Israelites, recorded in 1st Samuel, 17 : 26-49, 
by rushing down into the valley of Elah, all alone, and 
slaying the giant, Goliath, with his sling-shot. When 
he came walking back into the Israelites' lines, with 
the giant's head in his hand, he found great favor in 
the sight of King Saul, commander of the Israelite 
army. Saul showed him many favors. 

After he grew to manhood, he became one of the 
kings of Judea, is reputed to have written 70 of the 
150 Psalms, and ultimately became one of the ances- 
tors of Jesus — although there were fourteen genera- 
tions between them. He was, in turn, a warrior, a 
statesman, and a poet. 

[20] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

Birth and Childhood 

Jesus was born in the manger of an underground, 
dugout stable in the village of Bethlehem, in Judea, 
as was foretold by the prophet, Isaiah, 700 years be- 
fore ; and by Micah, another prophet, even before that. 

December 25th (Christmas) is celebrated each year 
as the anniversary of his birth. (Although, as a 
matter of accuracy, he was born four years and one 
week^ B. C). He was named ^'Jesus'' when he was 
eight days old, in fulfillment of the scriptures. 

The parents of Jesus — Joseph and Mary — lived 
in the village of Nazareth. When Jesus was forty 
days old his parents took him and went to Jerusalem. 
On their way back they stopped at Bethlehem where 
Jesus had been born. Here the wise men, guided by 
the Star of the East, came to see him. 

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of 
the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying: 
*^ Arise and take the young child and his mother and 
flee into Egypt, and be thou there till I bring thee 
word, for Herod will seek the young child, to destroy 
him.'' (Matt. 2:13.) 

1 Far several hundred years after Christ's birth, there was no 
uniform calendar in use among the nations of the earth. Each one 
dated its own calendar from some great event in its own history. 
Finally, in the sixth century, it was decided to have a common calen- 
dar for all, and to date it from the birth of Christ. Accordingly, 
Dionysius Exiguus, a learned monk, was assigned the task of ascer- 
taining the exact date of Christ's birth. His calculations were pub- 
lished A. D. 526. The nations then all dated their calendars upon his 
findings. More than a hundred years afterward, it was discovered 
that he had erred. And so we find that Jesus was born 5 B. C, or four 
years and one week before our present-day calendar. 

[21] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

After Herod's death, the family returned to 
Nazareth, where Jesus grew to manhood. When he 
was twelve years old, his parents took him to Jerusa- 
lem to celebrate the feast of the Passover. After that, 
for a period of eighteen years, we know little about 
him. 

Family 

Jesus came from a fair-sized family. After he be- 
gan to preach, Matthew says his countrymen asked 
(Chap. 13: 55-56) : ''Is not this the carpenter's son? 
is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren (bro- 
thers) James, and Joseph, and Simon and Judas? and 
his sisters, are they not all with us?'' 

Although poor, it was, after all, rather a remark- 
able family. Joseph, the father, was a carpenter — 
perhaps a high grade cabinet maker. He was of good 
repute throughout all Judea. 

Mary, the mother, was a modest, virtuous, Jewish 
maiden. One day she was accosted by an angel who 
saluted her thus : ' ' Hail, thou that art highly favoured, 
the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women. 
(Luke 1:28) * *= * Fear not, Mary, for thou hast 
found favour with God. (V 30) " 

And Mary answered: ''My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour; 
for he hath regarded the low estate of his hand- 

[22] 



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JESUS THE REFORMER 

maiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations 
shall call me blessed. (Vs 46-48) " 

Many a woman has become the mother of a Presi- 
dent : only One has ever become the mother of a Ood, 
This honor went to that saintly Jewish maiden, Mary. 

She was ever loyal to her Christ-child. Wh^en 
Herod sought his life, she fled with him in her arms to 
a foreign country — Egypt. While he hung on tlie 
cross she knelt at his feet and wept and prayed. After 
the crucifixion she made her home until she died with 
John the ^^ beloved disciple," to whom Jesus gave her, 
from the top of the cross. The night after Christ's 
ascension, she and his brothers and eleven of the dis- 
ciples ^'continued with one accord in prayer and 
supplication" in an upper room (Acts 1: 13-14). 

Matthew, one of the twelve disciples, knew the 
Lord's family very well. In his close association with 
Jesus, he must have come to know each member of the 
family intimately. He wrote the gospel of Matthew 
only a few years after Christ's departure; therefore, 
any mention of the individual members of the Lord^s 
family, by him, must be accepted as accurate. 

Of his brothers, Matthew says (Ch. 13:55) that 
their names were ^' James, Joses, Simon and Judas." 
Mark, in 6:3, confirms Matthew, except that he 
changes the order of the last two and puts them thus : 

[^3] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

''James, Joses, Judas and Simon." He also calls 
Judas — ''Juda." 

Concerning Joses and Simon, we know nothing, 
other than the mere mention of them by name in these 
two gospels. As for James and Judas, they gained 
some distinction. 

Paul says, after his conversion and return to Jerusa- 
lem, (Gal. 1: 19) ''Other of the Apostles saw I none, 
save James, the Lord's brother." Then, later on, he 
says (Gal. 2:9); "When James, Cephas and John, 
who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace, they 
gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellow- 
ship." Luke declares in Acts 12: 17, that Peter com- 
manded " Go ! show these things to James. ' ' Acts 
15: 13, states: "And after they had held their peace, 
James answered, saying. Men and brethren, hearken 
unto me." Chapter 21: 18, continues: "And the day 
following, Paul went in with us unto James. ' ' 

It is evident, therefore, that James, the Lord's bro- 
ther (James, the brother of John — the sons of 
Zebedee — had previously been slain by Herod with 
a sword — Acts 12:1-2), and Paul became fast 
friends, and that Paul held him in high esteem. For 
a number of years after Christ's departure, James 
acted as bishop of the mother church of Nazarenes in 
Jerusalem. 

[24] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

He wrote the epistle of James — regarded by many 
as the first book of the New Testament ever written. 

Josephus says of him that he was stoned to death in 
the year A. D. 62 — when he was perhaps about 64 
years of age, for it is generally conceded that he was 
born in Egypt during the stay therein of Joseph and 
Mary to protect the infant Saviour from the wrath of 
Herod. 

He and his eldest brother, Jesus, and St. Stephen, 
and St. Paul, and John the Baptist, and many others 
who became prominently identified with them — all 
met violent deaths in the first century A. D. It cost 
a great deal of human blood to establish the religion of 
Jesus Christ in the world and give it a permanent foot- 
hold. It is, however, gradually enveloping the earth. 

One of the younger brothers (possibly the youngest) , 
Judas, was nicknamed ^ ' Jude ' ' — either for brevity 
or else to get away from the stigma of the name Judas, 
caused by his eldest brother, Jesus, having been be- 
trayed by Judas Iscariot. Modern critics are quite 
uniformly agreed that he is the author of the epistle 
of Jude — the second last book in the New Testament, 
consisting of only one chapter of 25 verses. 

As for Christ's sisters, the only record we have of 
them is the brief mention by Matthew in Chap. 13 : 56, 
*'And his sisters, are they not all with us?'' corrob- 

[^5] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

orated by Mark in 6:3, ''And are not his sisters here 
with us ? " It is not definitely known how many sisters 
he had. 

Later Years 

Of his boyhood, Luke says (Chap. 2: 51-52) : ''And 
he went down with them (his parents) and came to 
Nazareth; and he was subject unto them: and his 
mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And 
Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor 
with God and men." 

When Jesus was thirty years of age, he went down 
to the Jordan river and offered himself to John to be 
baptized. At first John refused to do it, saying: "I 
have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to 
me ? ' ' Jesus answered : ' ' Suffer it to be so now. ' ' And 
so John baptized him. 

Immediately after his baptism he was led up unto 
Mt. Quarantania, near the village of Jericho, and 
tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days 
and nights, the devil put all kinds of questions to 
him, but Jesus remained loyal to his faith and came 
out of it a conqueror. 

Twelve Apostles 
Then Jesus selected twelve men to be his apostles, 

[26] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

and entered upon his two missions of Healing and 
Preaching. The men selected were : 

1. Simon, also called Peter, and 

2. Andrew, his brother; 

3. James, the son of Zebedee, and 

4. John, his brother; 

5. Philip, of Bethsaida; 

6. Nathaniel, also called Bartholomew ; 

7. Thomas, also called Didymns ; 

8. Matthew, the publican; 

9. James, the son of Alphaeus ; 

10. Labbaeus Thaddaeus; 

11. Simon, the Canaanite; 

12. Judas Iscariot. 

His Life Divisions 
First thirty years, ^'Period of Preparation. ' ' 
Years of his ministry : 

1. ^^ Year of Obscurity.'' 

2. '^ Year of Popularity." 

3. ^^Year of Opposition." 

4. ^^Year of Death." 

His first year's ministry — the year of obscurity — 
when he was just getting his start, was conducted in 
Judea — that is, the last eight months of it were — 

[27] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

and it is usually spoken of as his ' ' Judean ministry. ' ' 
It was from May to December, inclusive, A. D. 27. 

His second year — the year of his great popularity 
— was spent preaching in Galilee, and it is termed his 
^^ Galilean ministry." (A. D. 28). 

The third year was his year of opposition. It 
started out bad through John the Baptist being be- 
headed by Herod. However, during this year Jesus 
took Peter, James and John up onto Mt. Hermon and 
was transfigured in their presence, to prove that he 
was Christ. This was his most active year. 

From October A. D. 29, until April 1, 30, Christ 
preached in Perea (meaning ^^ beyond'') east of — ^that 
is '' beyond" — the Jordan. This is known as his 
^ ^ Perean ministry. ' ' 

The Miracles 

Thirty-six of the miracles performed by Christ dur- 
ing his active ministry are as follows : 

1. Changed the water into wine (John 2 : 6-11). 

2. Cleansed the leper (Matt. 8:4). 

3. Healed the paralytic (Matt. 8 : 13) . 

4. Healed Peter's wife's mother of a fever 
(Matt.8:15). 

5. Cast out spirits and healed all that were sick 
(Matt. 8:16). 

6. Stilled the sea (Matt. 8 : 26) . 

[28] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

7. Cast two devils into swine (Matt. 8: 32). 

8. Healed another paralytic (Matt. 9:2-7). 

9. Healed woman with issue of blood (Matt. 9 : 22) . 

10. Raised Jainis' daughter from the dead (Matt. 
9:25). 

11. Restored sight to two blind men (Matt. 9 : 29-30) . 

12. Restored speech to a dumb man (Matt. 9 : 33). 

13. Healed infirm man at Pool of Bethesda (John 
5:2-9). 

14. Healed man with a withered hand (Luke 6 : 6-10) . 

15. Healed the centurion's servant (Matt. 8: 5-13). 

16. Raised the widow's son from the dead at Nain 
(Luke 7: 11-15). 

17. Healed many that were sick (Matt. 14: 14). 

18. Fed five thousand with five loaves and two fishes 
(Matt. 14:13-23). 

19. Walked on the water (Matt. 14 : 24-36) . 

20. Cast a devil out of Canaanitish woman's daughter 
(Matt. 15:21-28). 

21. Healed the ^4ame, blind, dumb, maimed and 
many others" that assembled by the sea of Galilee 
(Matt. 15:29-31). 

22. Healed a deaf and dumb man (Matt. 7: 31-37). 

23. Fed four thousand with seven loaves and a few 
fishes (Matt. 15:32-38). 

24. Healed blind man (Mark 8:22-26). 

[29] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

25. Cured a demoniac boy (Matt. 17 : 14-20) . 

26. Caused Simon to get a shekel out of a fish's 
mouth (Matt. 17:24-27). 

27. Healed great multitudes (Matt. 19:1-2). 

28. Healed blind man (John 9:1-12). 

29. Healed woman who had been sick for eighteen 
years (Luke 13:10-13). 

30. Cured a man of dropsy (Luke 14: 1-4). 

31. Raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11: 17-44). 

32. Cleansed ten lepers (Luke 17: 11-14). 

33. Cured two blind men near Jericho (Matt. 20: 29- 
34). 

34. Cursing of the fig tree (Matt. 21:18-19). 

35. Healed blind man in the temple (Matt. 21 : 14) . 

36. Restored the ear of Malchus, which Peter cut off 
with his sword during the arrest (Luke 22 : 50-51 ; 
John 18: 10). 

^^And there are so many other things which Jesus 
did, the which, if they should 'be written every one, I 
suppose that even the world itself could not contain 
the hooks that should he written.'^ (John 21 : 25.) 

Then, he performed the greatest of all miracles and 
rose from the dead. 

His Parables 

Christ had the happy faculty of teaching by para- 
bles. Fifty-three of the hundreds that he used found 

[30] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

their way into the records. Twenty-four of the lead- 
ing ones are herein cited : 

1. The sower (Matt. 13:3-8). 

2. Wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24-30). 

3. Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard 
(Matt. 13:31-32). 

4. Kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven 
(Matt. 13:33). 

5. Kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure 
(Matt. 13:44). 

6. Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man 
(Matt. 13:45-46). 

7. Kingdom of heaven is like unto a net 
(Matt. 13:47). 

8. A scribe is like unto a man that is a householder 
(Matt. 13:52). 

9. The marriage feast (Luke 14: 7-11). 

10. The great supper (Luke 14 : 15-24) . 

11. Ninety and nine (Luke 15 : 3-7) . 

12. Ten pieces of silver (Luke 15 : 8-10). 

13. The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). 

14. A certain rich man (Luke 16 : 1-13) . 

15. The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16 : 19-31). 

16. The judge and the widow (Luke 18: 1-8). 

17. Pharisee and publican in the temple (Luke 
18:9-14). 

[31] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

18. Nobleman and the ten servants (Luke 19: 11-28). 

19. The two sons (Matt. 21 : 28-32). 

20. The vineyard (Matt. 21:33-45). 

21. Kingdom of heaven like unto marriage feast 
(Matt. 22:1-14). 

22. The fig tree (Matt. 24: 32-33). 

23. The ten virgins (Matt. 25: 1-13). 

24. Story of the talents (Matt. 25: 14-30). 



[32] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 



The Beatitudes 
(Introductory) 

^^ Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in theii 
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, 
and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of 
disease among the people. 

^^And his fame went throughout all Syria. And 
they brought unto him, all sick people that were taken 
with divers diseases and torments, and those which 
were possessed with devils, and those which were 
lunatic (insane), and those that had the palsy; and he 
healed them. 

'^And there followed him great multitudes of 
people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from 
Jerusalem and from Judea and from beyond Jordan. 

^^And, seeing the multitudes, he went up into a 
Mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came 
unto him : and he opened his mouth and taught them 
saying'' (Matt. 4: 23-25, and 5:1-2) : 



[34] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 



(From the Sermon on the Mount) 

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven. 

2. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be 
comforted. 

3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
earth. 

4. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall be filled. 

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain 
mercy. 

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God. 

7. Blessed are peacemakers, for they shall be called 
the children of God. 

8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

9. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and 
shall persecute you, and shall say all manner of 
evil against you, falsely, for my sake (Matt. 
5:3-11). 



[35] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 



The Lord^s Prayer 

(Preparatory). 

Christ in his great Sermon on the Mount 
(Matt. 6:6-8), taught us: 

Where to go to pray 
To whom to pray 
How to pray. 

He said : ^ ^ But thou, when thou pray est, enter into 
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to 
thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which 
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 

''But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as 
the heathen do ; for they think that that they shall be 
heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore 
like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things 
ye have need of, before ye ask him. 

''After this manner, therefore, pray ye:" 



[36] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 



The Prayer 

(Matt. 6:9-13) 

Our Father, which art in Heaven, 

Hallowed be Thy Name. 

Thy Kingdom come. 

Thy Will be done 

On Earth as it is in Heaven. 

Give ns, this day, our Daily Bread, 

And Forgive us our Trespasses 

As we forgive those 

Who trespass against us. 

And Lead us not into Temptation, 

But deliver us from Evil ; 

For Thine is the Kingdom, 

And the Power, 

And the Glory, 
Forever ! 
Amen! 



[37] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Passion Week 

After spending two days in Bethany at the home of 
Simon the leper, where he kept the Jewish Sabbath 
(Saturday), Christ started to Jerusalem to attend 
the feast of the Passover, and to face his calumniators 
as well as to meet his friends. He arrived on the 
third day of the feast. 

^'And when they drew night unto Jerusalem, and 
came unto Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then 
Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the 
village that is over against you, and straightway ye 
shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, 
and bring them unto me. And if anyone say aught 
unto you, ye shall say. The Lord hath need of them; 
and straightway he will send them. Now this is come 
to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
through the prophet, saying : 

Tell ye the daughter of Zion, 
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. 
Meek, and riding upon an ass, 
And upon a colt the foal of an ass. 

''And the disciples went, and did even as Jesus 
appointed them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and 
put on them their garments ; and he sat thereon. Ajid 
the most part of the multitude spread their garments 
in the way; and others cut branches from the trees, 

[38] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

and spread them in the way. And the multitudes that 
went before him and that followed, cried, saying, 
Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that 
eometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the 
highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all 
the city was stirred, saying : Who is this ? And the 
multitudes said, This is the prophet, Jesus, from 
Nazareth of Galilee.'' (Matt. 21: 1-11). 

We are now dealing with the most tremendous 
week in human history. We have already passed 
over Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem which 
occurred on Sunday, April 2, A. D. 30. Let us outline 
the week : 

(April 2) Palm Sunday — the day of Triumph. 

(April 3) Monday — the day of Authority. 

(April 4) Tuesday — the day of Conflict. 

(April 5) Wednesday — the day of Retirement. 

(April 6) Thursday — the day of Farewells. 

(April 7) Friday — the day of Passion. 

(Aprils) Saturday — the day in the Tomb. 

(April 9) Sunday — the day of Victory. 
The stirring events of the first three days of 
Passion Week — Sunday, Monday and Tuesday — 
are amply set forth in detail in the Gospels. Wednes- 
day was the ''day of Retirement" (seclusion). 
Therefore, let's pass on over to the betrayal scenes 
of Thursday night, April 6.. 

[39] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

The Last Supper 

''Now on the first day of unleavened bread the 
disciples came to Jesus, saying : Where wilt thou that 
we make ready for thee to eat the passover 1 And he 
said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto 
him: The Teacher saith, My time is at hand; I keep 
the passover at thy house with my disciples. And 
the disciples did as Jesus appointed them; and they 
made ready the passover. 

''Now when even was come, he was sitting at meat 
with the twelve disciples; and as they were eating, 
he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall 
betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and 
began to say unto him every one, 'Is it I, Lord?' 
And he answered and said. He that dipped his hand 
with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The 
Son of man goeth, even as it is written of him : but 
woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is 
betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not 
been born. And Judas, who betrayed him, answered 
and said, ' Is it I, Rabbi ? ' He saith unto him : Thou 
hast said. 

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and 
blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, 
and said. Take, eat; this is my body. And he took a 
cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying. 
Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the cove- 

[40] 




(HOFFMAN) 



IN GETHSEMANE 
^^And he prajjed saijing : Father , if thou he willing , 
remove this cup from me; nevertheless ^ not my will 
hut thine he done/^ (Luke 22: 42.) 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

nant, which is poured out for many unto remission 
of sins. But I say unto you, I shall not drink hence- 
forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I 
drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. 

^'And when they had sung a hymn, they went out 
into the mount of Olives.'' (Matt. 26: 17-30). 

In Gethsemane 
* * Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called 
Gethsemane, and saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here 
while I go yonder and pray. And he took with him 
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be 
sorrowful and sore troubled. Then saith he unto 
them: My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
death; abide ye here, and watch with me. And he 
went forward a little and fell on his face, and prayed, 
saying. My Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as 
thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and 
findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter: What, 
could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and 
pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit in- 
deed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again a second 
time he went away, and prayed, saying : My Father, if 
this cup cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will 
be done. And he came again and found them sleep- 
ing, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them 

[41] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

again, and went away, and prayed a third time, 
saying again the same words. Then cometh he to the 
disciples, and saith unto them: Sleep on now, and 
take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the 
Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 
Arise, let us be going : behold, he is at hand that be- 
tray eth me. ' ' (Matt. 26 : 36-46.) 

The Betrayal 

In order to understand the betrayal, we must go 
back to Matthew's introduction of the original con- 
spiracy, (Chap. 26 : 3-5 and 14-16), which occurred on 
the previous Wednesday — the day of Christ's re- 
tirement : 

^^Then were gathered together the chief priests, 
and the elders of the people, unto the court of the 
high priest, who was called Caiaphas ; and they took 
counsel together that they might take Jesus by 
subtlety, and kill him. But they said ; Not during the 
feast, lest a tumult arise among the people. 

^^Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas 
Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said : What 
are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him unto 
you? And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of 
silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to 
deliver him unto them. ' ' 

[42] 




(SCHEFFER) 



THE BETRAYER'S KISS 

^^Whomsoever I shall hiss, that is he: take him. 
And straightway he came to Jesus, and said: Hail, 
Rahbi; and kissed him/' (Matt. 26: 48-49.) 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

Now let us move forward again into Gethsemane. 
Says Matthew, Chap. 26 :47-49 : 

''And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the 
twelve came, and with him a great multitude with 
swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders 
of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them 
a sign, saying : Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he : 
take him. And straightway he came to Jesus, and 
said, Hail, Rabbi; and kissed him." 

The Thirty Pieces of Silver 

If the betrayal of Christ by Judas was a part of 
the divine drama worked out in heaven before Christ 
left his Father to come to earth to undertake his 
responsible mission of the Atonement, we must, in 
all fairness to Judas, respect him for the awful role 
which he voluntarily played in the great tragedy. 
Had he merely lost confidence in his Chief and be- 
trayed him as a matter of principle to get him out of 
the way, the World might have applauded his sin- 
cerity, detestable though his act proved to be. But 
Judas' great crime lay in the fact that he betrayed 
his Christ for money — thirty little pieces of silver 
valued at approximately $20. 

Concerning these Thirty Pieces of Silver, Matthew 
declares (Chap. 27: 3-10) : 

' ' Then Judas, who betrayed him when he saw that 

[43] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

he was condemned, repented himself, and brought 
back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests 
and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed 
innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? 
see thou to it. And he cast down the pieces of silver 
into the sanctuary, and departed : and he went away 
and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the 
pieces of silver, and said : It is not lawful to put them 
into the treasury, since it is the price of blood. And 
they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's 
field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was 
called. The field of blood, unto this day. Then was 
fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah 
the prophet, saying. And they took the thirty pieces 
of silver, the price of him that was priced, whom cer- 
tain of the children of Israel did price ; and they gave 
them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed 
me." 

To this account of the ignominy of Judas, we must 
let Luke add his testimony as recorded in Acts 
1:18-19: ^'Now this man (Judas) purchased a field 
with the reward of his iniquity; and, falling head- 
long, he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels 
gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers 
at Jerusalem ; insomuch as that field is called in their 
proper tongue, ^Aceldama;' that is, to say, ^The field 
of blood."' 

[44] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

The discussion of these Thirty Pieces of Silver in- 
troduces a new vista of thought. Were they ordinary 
or extraordinary coins? Were they graven special, 
and did they have an artistic as well as an intrinsic 
value? Where did they come from? What became 
of them? 

It is only natural that a lot of mythology should 
have become woven into the life and death of Jesus ; 
and, strangely enough, there are plenty of sup- 
posedly pious people ready to believe these legends. 

Just so with regard to the Thirty Pieces of Silver 
paid to Judas. During the twelfth century, Godfrey 
of Viterbo wrote his famous ''Pantheon." It is 
written in faulty Latin, making the translation of it 
choppy and somewhat unsatisfactory. However, his 
volume, for which there is positively no foundation 
of fact, after being loosely translated, makes an en- 
tertaining Biblical Myth. The main points in it are : 
that King Ninus of Assyria had the original coins 
made. Abram later possessed them. Then the 
Ishmaelites paid twenty of these same pieces for 
Joseph when they bought him from his brethren. 
After this they passed through the hands of Queen 
Nicaula and the Queen of the South. Nebuchad- 
nezzar finally owned them. Next, we see Mary los- 
ing them as she flees into Egypt to save the life of 
the Christ-child. Shepherds found them. Next we 

[45] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

see Jesus looking at them, and knowing the vile pur- 
pose for which they were to be used, ordered them 
placed in the treasury of the temple. Then Judas 
receives them for his dastardly act. Godfrey then 
goes a step farther, outside of the records, and de- 
clares that fifteen of them only were used to buy a 
potters^ field, and the other fifteen were paid to the 
soldiers who guarded Jesus' tomb by night. 

During the thirteenth century, Solomon, bishop of 
Basra, issued his ^^Book of the Bee' which covers 
the same main points set forth in Godfrey's book. 
He goes a step farther backward, however, and be- 
gins with the fact that Adam first owned them, hav- 
ing taken the coins ^^from the borders of Paradise." 
And then again, during the fourteenth century, 
Ludolph of Suchem and John of Hildesheim each re- 
hashed the story, adding fascinating touches to it 
here and there, and gave it to the world as sacred 
history. 

In the British Museum are two manuscripts of the 
fifteenth century, which declare that Abraham used 
these Thirty Pieces for purchasing the tomb of 
Adam and Eve, and that subsequently Moses had 
possession of them. 

These things would seem ridiculous, were it not 
for the stubborn fact that certain well-meaning 
people are wont to give credence to them. 

[46] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

Let us pass on from the original proposition of 
where the coins came from, to the more serious ques- 
tion of what became of them — after the betrayal. 

The only authentic accounts we have of them are 
the brief ones from the pens of Matthew and Luke, 
previously given. 

Felix Fabri was undoubtedly right when he con- 
cluded, during the fifteenth century that: ^^ After the 
purchase of the field they were dispersed throughout 
all the world. ' ' 

In other words, they were nothing but common 
coins, picked up out of the ordinary channels of trade, 
paid into the treasury of the temple ; and, after the be- 
trayal, found their way back into the commercial life 
of Judea, where no authentic trace of them has since 
been found. 

And yet, in the face of our twentieth-century in- 
telligence, certain claims are being set up by reputable 
institutions throughout the world that they possess 
one of these original coins. Here is a list : 

1. The Visitandines at Aix. 

2. Notre Dame du Puy. 

3. The Abbey of St. Denis. 

4. Montserrat in Catalonia. 

5. S. Croce in Florence. 

6. The Annunziata in Florence. 

[47] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

7. Church of S. Maria dei Candeli in Florence 
(now razed). 

8. Abbey of the Trinity, St. Serguis in Moscow. 

9. Monastery of Souprasl near Bielostock. 

10. Rhodes, in the Castle of the Knights of St. John. 

11. Rome, in S. Croce in Gernsalemme. 

12. Rosas, in Catalonia. 

13. Oviedo, in the Camera Santa of S. Salvadore. 

14. Paris, Church of St. John Lateran. 

15. Paris, Temple. 

16. Vincennes. 

17. Capuchin Convent in Eughien. 

17. Church of S. Francesco dei Riformati at Spezia 
(now removed). 

19. Bethlehem. 

20. A gold-mounted one in Greece (stolen). 

21. Mounted in silver. Private collection (a pres- 
ent from Silesia). 

22. Cathedral of Sens. 

23. Church of S. Eustorgio at Milan. 

24-32. One on top of each of the Nine pillars which 
support the high altar in S. S. Trinita di S. Stefano in 
Bologna. (These make thirty-two instead of thirty, 
or two more than is necessary to go round.) 

Sentimental piety has caused certain folk to accept 
these identifications as real: ripe Bible scholars uni- 
formly denounce them all as frauds (counterfeits). 

[48] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

Undoubtedly, these coins, accepted as originals, 
but unquestionably counterfeits, can mostly be ac- 
counted for by a pertinent sidelight given to us by 
Felix Fabri. He says: ^^I saw one at Rhodes, of 
which Johann Tucker of Nuremberg made an im- 
pression. He made a model in lead and cast similar 
ones in silver, which he distributed to his friends. 
In the year 1485, when we were assembled at Nurem- 
berg to hold the provincial chapter, the said person 
(Tucker) gave one of these demarii to each of the 
brothers." The question is: Who can vouch for the 
genuineness of the one from which the 'impression" 
was made? Even so, it renders the reproductions 
nothing but counterfeits. 

Eleven years later, in 1496, Guill. Caoursin (in 
' ' Stabilimenta Rhodorium Militum Sacri ordinis") 
declared that: ''one of those thirty pieces of silver 
at which the traitor Judas priced Christ: from an 
impression of which stamps are made in white wax 
every year while the Passion is being chanted by 
the priest." This statement raises the same two 
questions as the preceding paragraph. 

Let us not be hoodwinked into believing that a 
single one of the original coins can be located any- 
where throughout the world. Christ was stricken 
down without offspring ; even the family name was 
obliterated from both sacred and secular history. 

[49] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

His name does not appear to a deed to property, 
to a letter, or on the tavern register of a single inn 
in the Holy land. The cross was destroyed by his 
enemies in its entirety (with all due respect to insti- 
tutions which claim to have a piece of it). Just so 
with these thirty pieces of silver — ^^Judas-pennies :" 
they were intentionally lost in oblivion. There isn't 
a single scrap of reliable physical evidence in the whole 
wide world that Jesus ever lived. Evidently God 
did not intend that there should be. The only evi- 
dence we have is the literary record contained in 
the Gospels, corroborated briefly by Josephus; plus 
his conscious presence in the hearts of men. 

The Arrest 

* ^ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took 
him. And behold, one of them that were with Jesus 
stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and smote 
the servant of the high priest and struck off his ear. 
Then saith Jesus unto him; Put up again thy sword 
into its place; for all they that take the sword shall 
perish with the sword. Or thinkest thou that I cannot 
beseech my Father, and he shall even now send me 
more than twelve legions of angels ? How then should 
the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? In 
that hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come 
out as against a robber with swords and staves to 

[so] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and ye 
took me not. But all this is come to pass, that the 
scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then 
all the disciples left him, and fled. '' (Matt. 47 : 50-56) . 

Trials of Jesus 

It is now after twelve o'clock. Night is tapering 
itself off gradually into the morning of Friday, April 
7. Christ is meek and submissive. He was tried five 
times in rapid succession, — twice before Jewish 
authorities, and three times before Roman authori- 
ties, for Judea was under the domination of Rome 
at the time, — and hastily condemned to death. 

Prior to his crucifixion the next forenoon, we must 
consider three things: (a) The Jewish Trials; (b) 
The Roman Trials; (c) Errors in the two classes of 
trials. 

(A) Jewish Trials 

John says (18 : 13) : They ^4ed him away to Annas 
first ; for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, which was 
the high priest that same year." The fact is that 
Annas was present when the betrayal was secretly 
agreed to with Judas. He enjoyed a joint-priesthood 
with Caiphas. Luke 3:2 speaks of ^' Annas and 
Caiphas being the high priests." However, John 
18:24 states that Annas ^^sent him bound unto 

[51] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Caiphas the high priest." It is all too evident that 
there was collusion between the two, from the begin- 
ning, to get rid of Jesus. 

Matthew has proven himself such a reliable wit- 
ness that we will now let him testify. In Chap. 
26 : 57-68, he says : 

^^And they that had taken Jesus led him away 
to the house of Caiphas the high priest, where the 
scribes and the elders were gathered together. But 
Peter followed him afar off, unto the court of the 
high priest, and entered in, and sat with the officers, 
to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole 
council sought false witness against Jesus, that they 
might put him to death; and they found it not, 
though many false witnesses came. But afterward 
came two, and said. This man said, I am able to 
destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three 
days. And the high priest stood up, and said unto 
him, Answerest thou nothing ? what is it which these 
witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And 
the high priest said unto him, I adjure thee by the 
living God, that thou tell us whether thou art the 
Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou 
hast said: nevertheless I say unto you. Henceforth 
ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand 
of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then 
the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath 

[52] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of 
witnesses : behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy : 
what think ye? They answered and said: He is 
worthy of death. Then did they spit in his face and 
buffet him: and some smote him with the palms of 
their hands, saying. Prophesy unto us, thou Christ: 
who is he that struck thee?" 

It was perhaps about two o'clock in the morning. 
An irregular session of the Sanhedrin was called. 
They condemned Jesus as ^^ worthy of death." 

The Sanhedrin then adjourned until morning 
when they reassembled to confirm their illegal action 
taken during the night. (Matt. 27:1; Mark 15:1; 
Luke 22: 66.) 

(B) Roman Trials 

The Jews did not, however, have authority to exe- 
cute a death sentence, without the approval of their 
Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate; therefore, Jesus 
was hurried away to the next higher court. 

Let Matthew continue to testify (Chap. 27:1-2) : 

'^Now when morning was come, all the chief priests 
and the elders of the people took counsel against 
Jesus to put him to death : and they bound him, and 
led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate, the 
governor. ' ' 

We will strike from the testimony of this witness 

[53] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

all reference to Judas, and proceed with his direct 
evidence in the case as touching Jesus only (Chap. 
27:11-31): 

^^Now Jesus stood before the governor: and the 
governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of 
the Jews? And Jesus said unto him. Thou sayest. 
And when he was accused by the chief priests and 
elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto 
him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness 
against thee ? And he gave him no answer, not even 
to one word : insomuch that the governor marveled 
greatly. 

'^Now at the feast the governor was wont to re- 
lease unto the multitude one prisoner, whom they 
would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called 
Barabbas. When therefore they were gathered to- 
gether, Pilate said unto them. Whom will ye that I 
release unto you ? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called 
Christ ? For he knew that for envy they had deliv- 
ered him up. And while he was sitting on the judg- 
ment-seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou 
nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have 
suffered many things this day in a dream because 
of him. Now the chief priests and the elders per- 
suaded the multitudes that they should ask for 
Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. But the governor 
answered and said unto them, Which of the two will 

[54] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

ye that I release unto you? And they said, Barabbas. 
Pilate saith unto them, What then shall I do unto 
Jesus who is called Christ? They all say. Let him 
be crucified. And he said, Why, what evil hath he 
done? But they cried out exceedingly, saying. Let 
him be crucified. So when Pilate saw that he pre- 
vailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, 
he took water, and washed his hands before the mul- 
titude, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this 
righteous man; see ye to it. And all the people 
answered and said. His blood be on us, and on our 
children. Then released he unto them Barabbas; 
but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified. 

' ' Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into 
the Praetorium, and gathered unto him the whole 
band. And they stripped him, and put on him a 
scarlet robe. And they platted a crown of thorns and 
put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; 
and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, 
saying. Hail, King of the Jews ! And they spat upon 
him, and took the reed and smote him on the head. 
And when they had mocked him, they took off from 
him the robe, and put on him his garments, and led 
him away to crucify him. ' ' 

It is interesting to note that Matthew does not 
testify to the fact that Jesus was transferred from 
the court of Pilate to the jurisdiction of Herod 

[55] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Antipas, King of Galilee, and given a hearing, be- 
fore Pilate finally pronounced the death sentence 
upon him. This feature of the case was testified to 
by Luke (23:5-12): 

''But they were the more urgent, saying, He stir- 
reth up the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, 
and beginning from Galilee even unto this place. 
But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man 
were a Galilean. And when he knew that he was of 
Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod, who 
himself also was at Jerusalem in these days. 

''Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding 
glad : for he was of a long time desirous to see him, 
because he had heard concerning him; and he hoped 
to see some miracle done by him. And he questioned 
him in many words; but he answered him nothing. 
And the chief priests and the scribes stood, vehe- 
mently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers 
set him at nought, and mocked him, and arraying 
him in gorgeous apparel sent him back to Pilate. 
And Herod and Pilate became fast friends with each 
other that very day : for before they were at enmity 
between themselves." 

It will thus be seen that the only real effect of this 

detourage through the chambers of Herod was to 

bring about a reconciliation between him and Pilate. 

This was the same crafty Herod that beheaded John 

[56] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

the Baptist, and to whom Jesus alluded in Luke 
13:32, when he said to the Pharisees: ^^Go ye and 
tell that fox, * Behold, I cast out devils, and I do 
cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall 
be perfected.' '' 

(C) Errors in the Trials 

Nineteen hundred years after the execution of 
Jesus, it seems strange to the investigator that they 
should have been in such a desperate hurry to get 
rid of him, — seeing that he offered absolutely no 
resistance whatsoever to their program. Could not 
the State wait to give him a fair trial? Why was 
haste so essential to their plans ? It was mob violence 
instead of judicial court procedure. There seems to 
be but one universal conclusion : Pilate held a politi- 
cal job. He had been appointed Procurator of Judea 
by Tiberius Caesar, Emperor of Rome. The teach- 
ings of Jesus and his claims to Messiahship were be- 
ginning to interfere with the existing order of things 
at Jerusalem. Pilate was afraid of losing his job. 
Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the pre- 
vious Sunday, riding on the foal of an ass, preceded 
and followed by thousands, in fulfillment of the 
scriptures, had irritated the self-important Sanhe- 
drists and aroused deep suspicion among the Roman 
authorities. His miracles, his parables and his direct 

[57] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

teachings made them fear his power. No doubt it 
seemed best to them to destroy him before some 
supernatural interference occurred. The mob was 
angry. Mock trials — farces — met their immediate 
needs. ^ ^ Away with him ! Crucify him ! ' ' 

The hurried, and consequent irregular, proceeding 
of the State caused numerous inexcusable errors to 
be thrust into Christ's trials. Some of these errors 
were : 

1. No warrant was issued for his arrest. 

2. No warrant having been issued, there was no 
formal written complaint lodged against him. 

3. He was arrested during the night, which was 
illegal under the Jewish law. Peter and John were 
also arrested ; but Luke declares in Acts 4 ; 3 that 
'^they laid hands upon them and put them in hold 
unto the next day; for it was now eventide,'' thus 
recognizing the illegality of their own acts at night, 
by setting these two at liberty, the next morning, 
without trials. 

4. Friday, the day of the arrest and trials, was a 
legal holiday, thereby making the transaction illegal, 
for the Mishna sets forth : ' ' They shall not judge on 
the eve of the Sabbath, nor on that of any festival." 

5. The meeting of the Sanhedrin during the night 
was irregular and illegal. They recognized this fact 
themselves when they reassembled early the next 

[58] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

morning to confirm what they had illegally done dur- 
ing the night. 

6. The trial before the Sanhedrists was held in the 
palace of Caiaphas, which was not the legal place for 
them to meet ; and, therefore, in absolute violation of 
Jewish law. 

7. Some of the Sanhedrists were hurling verbal 
accusations against Jesus, while under the Hebrew 
code all the authority they had was to investigate 
complaints made by others. They were, therefore, 
illegally acting as complaining witnesses and as 
prosecutors, without any of them having been singled 
out and specially appointed for this work, as pro- 
vided by the Mishna. 

8. After the rabbling testimony was all in, there 
was no ^ ^ argument for the defense and by one of the 
younger judges, ' ' as provided for in the Jewish law 
governing the deliberations of the Sanhedrin. 

9. Out of thousands of followers of, and believers 
in, Christ, not one was called to bear witness in his 
defence; neither was Christ given opportunity to 
bring them in. 

10. The two witnesses who gave false testimony 
against Christ concerning the Messiahship, were not 
cross-examined. 

11. They started out to prosecute him on the mere 
verbal imputation of Sedition; but after Christ shot 

[59] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYES 

into the teeth of Caiaphas this penetrating rejoinder 
(Matt. 26: 64) : ^'Henceforth ye shall see the Son of 
man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming 
on the clouds of heaven/' Caiphas (v. 65) ''rent his 
garments saying: 'He hath spoken blasphemy . . . 
ye have heard the blasphemy;' " thereby changing 
one verbal charge (Sedition) to another verbal 
charge (Blasphemy) without pausing or apologizing 
for amending, or for completely changing, the origi- 
nal verbal complaint. Anything to get rid of him 
by death! It simply had to be done! Judas has 
their Thirty Pieces of Silver, which had been 
"weighed out to him," and they must have value 
received, — the death of him for whose betrayal it 
was spent. Thus, to meet this extreme situation, the 
court (Caiphas) became also the complaining witness 
and the public prosecutor. At this juncture one loses 
all respect for ancient Jewish Tribunals. 

12. The second session of the Sanhedrin, held in 
the early morning, was illegal because the case being 
tried was one that required capital punishment, if 
the accused were found guilty; and the Mishna spe- 
cifically provided that a "sentence of death" could 
"not be concluded before the following day." Why 
all this haste ? 

13. His trial before Pilate, the Roman Governor, 
if trial it could be called, was presumed to be accord- 

[60] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

ing to Roman procedure which specifically provided 
that in cases of capital punishment, where the defen- 
dant was adjudged guilty, ^^ten days must elapse" 
between the return of the verdict and the pronounce- 
ment of sentence. This was not done in Christ's case. 
It is the widest departure on record from the rules of 
procedure under Roman law. How different the two 
trials of Paul before the court at Rome where months 
and months were used in each trial. 

14. No written record of the trial before Caiphas 
was brought to Pilate. Again, the accusation was 
nothing but Sanhedrian rabble. 

15. No witnesses were examined at this trial. 

16. The trial before Herod resolved itself into a 
mere matter of personal abuse of the accused who was 
also flogged and spat upon, contrary to all law and 
procedure. Perhaps Chandler was right when he de- 
clared in his legal treatise on the trial that Herod had 
come to regard ' ^ Christ as a clever imposter, ' ' — per- 
haps as one outside the pale of the law. 

17. When Jesus was returned by Herod to Pilate, 
the latter 's chastisement of him was absolutely illegal. 
The crown of thorns that sunk deep into his flesh as 
they beat him over the head with reeds was unre- 
strained mob violence — done in the presence of, by, 
and with, the consent of the court. 

[6i] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

18. The form of death prescribed for him — cruci- 
fixion — was, under the Jewish law, imposed only upon 
the basest of criminals. Jesus had done absolutely 
nothing to justify it. The Roman law did not recog- 
nize this form of death, except for Judeans. This was 
forcefully brought out in Paul's second trial at Rome 
when he was condemned to be crucified. Paul was a 
Roman subject; and as such he demanded his legal 
rights, to wit : that he be beheaded ; and it was done. 

We are justified, therefore, in concluding with De 
Land (Ch. I, p. 20) in his ^^ Mis-Trials of Jesus," that : 
*^He was not tried; He was not convicted; He was 
not adjudged; He was not punished. His taking off 
was the malicious, passionate demand of enemies in 
power, whose performance puts to blush all sense of 
form or essence of a trial." 

The Crucifixion 

It is nine o'clock in the forenoon of April 7, A. D. 
30. Jesus had had nothing to eat or drink since the 
^^Last Supper" the evening before. He has been be- 
fore Annas, Caiphas, Pilate, Herod and back to Pilate ; 
has been fictitiously tried and condemned to death ; has 
been buffeted, and flogged and spat upon; and has 
suffered greatly no doubt from the crown of thorns 
that was jmamed down upon his head. He is weary, 
heart-sick, and forlorn; yet brave enough and manly 

[62] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

enough to go on through with his part of the tragedy 
for the redemption of the race. Thousands upon thou- 
sands of people are gathered on the housetops in 
Jerusalem and on the walls that circumscribe the city, 
to watch the death penalty executed. The curses of 
Christ's enemies are mingled with the lamentations of 
his friends. 

Death is in the air ! 

Let us change witnesses and read from the record of 
John what transpired, — not that Matthew is dis- 
trusted (he and Mark and Luke all agree with John), 
but because John goes more into the details of the 
affair. He says (Chap. 19: 17-37) : 

' ' They took Jesus therefore : and he went out bear- 
ing the cross for himself, unto the place called The 
place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha : 
where they crucified him, and with him two others, on 
either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate 
wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there 
was written, 

'JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE 
JEWS' 

' ' This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the 
place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city ; 
and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in 
Greek. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said 

[63] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

to Pilate : Write not, The King of the Jews ; but, that 
he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered. 
What I have written I have written. 

*'The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified 
Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every 
soldier a part; and also the coat: now the coat was 
without seam, woven from the top throughout. They 
said therefore one to another. Let us not rend it, but 
cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture 
might be fulfilled, which saitli. 

They parted my garments among them. 
And upon my vesture did they cast lots. 

' ' These things therefore the soldiers did. But there 
w^ere standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and 
his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary 
Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, 
and the disciple standing by whom he loved he saith 
unto his mother. Woman, behold, thy son ! Then saith 
he to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from 
that hour the disciple took her unto his own home. 
(It is evident that Joseph, her husband, was dead.) 

^^ After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now 
finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, 
saith, I thirst. There was set there a vessel full of 
vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar 
upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth. When 
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It 

[64] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his 
spirit. 

^^The Jews therefore, because it was the Prepara- 
tion, that the bodies should not remain on the cross 
upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a 
high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be 
broken and that they might be taken away. The sol- 
diers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, 
and of the other that was crucified with him : but when 
they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead^ already, 
they brake not his legs: howbeit one of the soldiers 
with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there 
came out blood and water. And he that hath seen 
hath borne witness, and his witness is true : and he 
knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. 
For these things came to pass, that the scripture might 
be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. And 
again another scripture said. They shall look on him 
whom they pierced." 

According to the best medical authorities, Jesus died 
of ^^Extravasation of the heart" (a broken heart, 
caused by his excessive grief) . 



1 On the day of his crucifixion Christ was 33 years, 3 months, and 
13 days of age. 



[65] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST I GLORY 
(By Capt. John Bowring) 

In the cross of Christ I glory. 
Towering o^er the wrecks of time; 

All the light of sacred story 

Gathers round its head sublime. 

When the woes of life overtake me, 
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy, 

Never shall the cross forsake me; 
Lo! it glows with peace and joy. 

When the sun of Miss is beaming 
Light and love upon my way, 

From the cross the radiance streaming 
Adds new lustre to the day. 

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, 

By the cross are sanctified; 
Peace is there that knows no measure, 

Joys that through all time abide. 

In the cross of Christ I glory, 
Toicering o'er the wrecks of time; 

All the light of sacred story 
Gathers round its head sublime, 

[66] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

The Burial 

(Jolin 19: 38-42) 

*^ And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, being 
a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, 
asked of Pilate that he might take away the body of 
Jesus : and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, 
and took away his body. And there came also Nico- 
demus, he who at the first came to him by night, 
bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hun- 
dred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus, and 
bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom 
of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was 
crucified there was a garden ; and in the garden a new 
tomb wherein was never man yet laid. There then 
because of the Jews' Preparation (for the tomb was 
nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.'' 

In the Tomb 

Christ was laid in his tomb late Friday evening. 
The multitudes dispersed to their homes. One cannot 
even conjecture the thoughts of Mar^^, the mother of 
Jesus, during the long vigils of the night. Would her 
first-bom child whom she named ''Jesus," in fulfill- 
ment of the scripture and at the behest of God, ac- 
tually rise from the dead ? Would the prophecies con- 
cerning him and his promises to her come true ? With 

[^7] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

her the world was hanging in the balance. Faith held 
her up. 

Saturday, April 8, is upon us. Let Matthew con- 
tinue his narrative (Chap. 27: 62-66) : 

*^Now on the morrow, which is the day after the 
Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were 
gathered together unto Pilate, saying. Sir, we remem- 
ber that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, 
After three days I rise again. Command therefore 
that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, 
lest haply his disciples come and steal him away, and 
say unto the people. He is risen from the dead: and 
the last error will be worse than the first. Pilate said 
unto them, Ye have a guard : go, make it as sure as ye 
can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, seal- 
ing the stone, the guard being with them.'' 

Christ's Resurrection 
It is Sunday morning, April 9, — the greatest day 
in human history — ^ ^ the day of Victory ^ ^ over 
Death. The virgin tomb of Joseph is empty : 

CHRIST HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD! 

It would be sacrilegious to change the beautiful 
Biblical narrative. Let John return to speak to us 
(Chap. 20:1-18): 

^'Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary 
Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, 

[68] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb. She 
runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to 
the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto 
them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, 
and we know not where they have laid him. Peter 
therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they 
went toward the tomb. And they ran both together: 
and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to 
the tomb ; and stooping and looking in, he seeth the 
linen cloths lying ; yet he entered not in. Simon Peter 
therefore also cometh, following him, and entered into 
the tomb ; and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and 
the napkin, that was upon his head, not lying with the 
linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then 
entered in therefore the other disciple also, who came 
first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed. For as 
yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise 
again from the dead. So the disciples went away 
again unto their own home. 

^^But Mary was standing without at the tomb weep- 
ing: so, as she w^ept, she stooped and looked into the 
tomb; and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, 
one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body 
of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her. Woman, 
why weepest thou ? She saith unto them. Because they 
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him. When she had thus said, she turned 

[69] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew 
not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, 
why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, suppos- 
ing him to be the gardener, saith unto him. Sir, if 
thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast 
laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto 
her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in 
Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say. Teacher. Jesus 
saith to her. Touch me not ; for I am not yet ascended 
unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say 
to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, 
and my God and your God. Mary Magdalene cometh 
and telleth the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and 
that he had said these things unto her. ' ' 

The four gospel writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke 
and John — corroborate each other in detail as to the 
Resurrection. 

In addition to this, let us go outside of the Biblical 
narratives and introduce the evidence of Josephus — 
the world's most trusted historian. Concerning Christ 
he says : 

^^Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, 
if it be lawful to call him a man : for he was a doer of 
wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the 
truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many 
of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ. 
And then Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men 

[70] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

amongst us, had condemned him to the cross. Those 
that loved him at the first did not forsake him ; for he 
appeared to them alive again the third day; as the 
divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand 
other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe 
of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at 
this day/' 

After Christ's Resurrection, he was seen eleven dif- 
ferent times at eleven different places by a multitude 
of people, so that his Victory over Death is sufficiently 
vouched for. 

His Ascension 

On Thursday, May 18, A. D. 30, forty days' after 
his resurrection, at the age of 33 years, 4 months and 
24 days,^ in the presence of his eleven apostles who 
were assembled on top of the Mount of Olives, Jesus 
'*was taken up and a cloud received him out of their 
sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward 
heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them 
in white apparel;^ which also said, Ye men of Galilee, 
why stand ye gazing up into the heavens? this same 
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall 

1 The flood was instituted by a rain which lasted 40 days and 40 
nights. It took Moses 40 years to lead the Israelites out of bondage. 
When Jesus was 40 days old, his parents took him to Jerusalem. He 
fasted 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Quarantania. After his resur- 
rection, he spent 40 days on earth before his ascension. Just what 
the Almighty had in mind in working out these and other important 
events on the scale of 40, we are not permitted to know. 

2 This includes the one full day which he spent in the tomb. 

3 Evidently the same two angels which Mary saw sitting in Christ's 
tomb. 

[71] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into 
heaven.'' (Acts 1:9-11.) 

This was the last Act of the Divine Drama. The 
curtain was lowered on the stage of human redemp- 
tion. Since then, generation after generation has come 
and gone from the face of the earth — each in turn 
watching and waiting and longing for these curtains 
again to be upward rolled when Christ shall reappear. 

The Harmony of Devotion 

What a Harmony is produced in a Life of pure 
Devotion! The Devotion of Jesus to his Divine Mis- 
sion is the Poetry of the Universe. The Rhythm of 
his mission was the result of his Devotion. 

He entered life as the Child of Mystery in a little 
Bethlehem Manger. Beginning it in the soft Idyl of a 
conscious dream, he rose to a mighty Diapason of 
power in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Descending into the crystal flood of the Jordan, he 
ordained the First great Sacrament of the Church- 
Baptism. Assembled in an upper room with his 
Twelve Apostles, he instituted the Second Sacrament 
— the Lord's Supper. 

Delivered by Pilate to the rabbling multitude, he 
trudged from the Praetorium along the Via Dolorosa 
to the top of the Cross, tasted the Vinegar of Stealth 
and drank the Gall of Death. 

[72] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

Not once did he doubt his Mission ; not once did he 
falter in the execution of his Trust. 

His bruised body was placed in Joseph's virgin 
tomb, where, after three days, he broke the shackles 
of Death and came forth again. Forty days later God 
caught him up from the Brow of Olivet, in a Whirl- 
wind of Joy. 

His Devotion had been made complete. The Har- 
mony of it echoes adown the years. Its Poetry inspires 
the human soul to acclaim with Isaiah : 

' ' Unto us a Child is born. 
Unto us a Son is given, and the 
Government shall be upon his shoulder, and his 
Name shall be called : 

Wonderful, Counsellor, 
The Mighty God, 
The Everlasting Father, 
The Prince of Peace." 

His Devotion inspired the Classic Poetry of the Na- 
tions, De Vinci's ^^Last Supper" and Raphael's 
^^Transfiguration;" thousands of Statues that adorn 
the Art Galleries of the World, Handel's ^'Messiah," 
and Haydn 's ' ' Imperial Mass ; ' ' and the Harmony of 
it still lives 

In the hearts of men, 

[73] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Physical Appearance of Jesus 

Exactly how did Jesus look? It would surely be 
some consolation to us if we really knew. 

On the coins of the seventh century, the medals of 
the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, and in the 
paintings from the Renaissance to date, the general 
characteristics of his features, hair and beard are in- 
variably alike. Whether there is any foundation of 
fact in these representations of the likeness of our 
Savior is a matter of at least some concern, although 
not vital. It would seem that somewhere in the early 
days there must have appeared some tangible, au- 
thentic, definite likeness of him, for every engraver 
and every artist has conceived him to have had long 
wavy hair, parted in the middle; boyish unshaven 
whiskers; and a high smooth forehead, with a cast of 
features rather Grecian in their contour. And yet 
evidence of an original engraving or painting is wholly 
lacking. 

An early legend sets forth the fact that an original 
painting of him was reproduced on a gold and bronze 
tablet ; that this tablet fell into the hands of the Turks 
and ultimately passed into the possession of a certain 
German nobleman who carried it into Europe where it 
was freely reproduced by painters of the day. But, 
as stated, this is legendary only, and has no more 

[74] 



CHRIST OF THE NATIONS 

(Courtesy of Oxford University Press) 




1 — FRENCH 



2 — FLEMISH 





4 — GERMAN 



1 — French: Stone Relief at Poitiers. 

2 — Flemish: Painting, Kaiser Freidrick Museum, Berlin. 

3 — Italian : Medal, Victoria and Albert Museum. 

4 — German : Engraving by Hans Burgkmair, 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

foundation in fact than does the early history (?) of 
the Thirty Pieces of Silver. 

The head of Christ was first engraven on coins dur- 
ing the reign of Justinian II, A. D. 688-95. On these 
coins, says Hill (''Medallic Portraits of Christ," Ox- 
ford Press) : 

^ ^ He is represented with long flowing hair, mustache 
and beard, and a cross behind the head. It is a full- 
face representation, such as was only to be expected 
at the time, when it is quite the exception to find a 
profile portrait on a coin. The facing bearded bust 
of Christ, with various modifications, continues in use 
in Byzantine down to the very end of the coinage in 
1448. The beardless bust, also facing, does not appear 
until the reign of Manuel I (A. D. 1143-80). These 
facing types had no influence whatever on the Renais- 
sance attempts at portraying the Savior, which, so far 
as medals are concerned, are invariably in profile, 
usually to the left. The busts of Christ on the coins, 
in fact, are merely examples, on a small scale, of the 
orthodox Byzantine iconography of Christ, which 
Italian art discarded as soon as it felt able to do so. ' ' 

In the fifteenth century there was an early type 
of portrait which shows a face ^^ refined but weak, with 
a fairly long, pointed beard and long hair, a lock be- 
ing brushed back from the forehead over the temple." 

[75] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

This type, however, had very little effect on the de- 
velopment of the medallic portraits of Christ, and the 
really important fifteenth-century medals showed a 
less conventional countenance. 

The earliest literary description of Christ came from 
the pen of John of Damascus who died about the mid- 
dle of the eighth century A. D. The second literary 
description of the Master was written by Nicephorus 
Callisti (Xanthopoullos) who died six hundred years 
after John of Damascus. Where each of them got their 
authority is unknown. That Nicephorus was influ- 
enced by John's description seems almost self-evident. 
Both accounts are herein given. They are taken from 
the book of G. F. Hill, fellow of the British Academy, 
entitled ^^ Medallic Portraits of Christ" (Oxford 
Press) : 

^^John of Damascus describes Christ as having 
meeting eye-brows, fine eyes, long nose, curly hair, 
stooping shoulders, fresh complexion, black beard, and 
a skin the color of wheat, as well as other character- 
istics which do not concern us here. Nicephorus 
agrees in most particulars with John, adding that his 
hair was golden, not very thick, inclining to curliness ; 
eye-brows black, not much curved; beautiful eyes, 
bright and inclined to brown ; long nose ; beard golden, 
and not very long; hair of the head long; attitude 
s^iewhat stooping; complexion wheat-colored; face 

[76] 



JESUS THE REFORMER 

not round, but rather pointed below, and slightly 
rubicund. ' ' 

John the Baptist was a Nazarite. His second cousin, 
Jesus, may also have been one. The rules of the 
Nazarites forbade any man to cut his hair or shave his 
beard. John was loyal and conformed to the rule. 
This is the reason that every artist who has conceived 
his head (and every sculptor as well) has pictured 
him with long hair and a beard. The same thought has 
clustered itself about the reproduction of the appear- 
ance of Jesus. 

Just what he actually did look like no man knows. 
But we have this comforting assurance that ^'when he 
doth appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him 
as he is" (I John 3: 2). 

Summary 
The coming of Jesus was prophesied. 
He was of Divine origin. "^^ 

Had four brothers and several sisters. \ , 
He went about doing good. / 

He never married. 
His trials were a farce. 
His crucifixion stirred the world. ^*-- 
His resurrection is a fact. 
His ascension was sufficiently vouched for. \ 



[77] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 
III. PAUL THE APOSTLE 

The devotion of St. Paul to the religion of Jesus 
Christ, after he was suddenly converted to it, is one 
of the marvels of scripture, and it attests more fully 
than words can ever do, the Power of the Holy Ghost. 

Of his sufferings, because of his faith, St. Paul, 
himself, says in II Corinthians 11 : 23-27, I am : 

* ' In labours more abundant 
In stripes above measure. 
In prisons more frequent, 
In deaths oft." 

Of the Jews : 

' ' Five times received I forty stripes, save one ; 
Thrice was I beaten with rods, 
Once was I stoned. 
Thrice I suffered shipwreck, 
A night and a day I have been in the deep. 
In journey ings often. 
In perils of water, 
In perils of robbers. 
In perils by mine own countrymen, 
In perils by the heathen, 

[78] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

In perils in the wilderness, 

In perils in the sea, 

In perils in the city. 

In perils among false brethren ; 

In weariness and painfulness, 

In watchings often, 

In hunger and thirst. 

In fastings often, 

In cold and nakedness. ' ' 
This is a terrible list of sufferings for a man like 
Paul, with a frail body, to endure ; and especially for 
a faith which he was espousing. 

The ^^ forty stripes, save one'' (39) which he 
mentions as having been inflicted on him at five dif- 
ferent times, were administered in accordance with 
the orders of the Jewish Ecclesiastical Courts. They \ 
were terrible ordeals. The public whipper was to lay 
on the lash ^ Vith all his strength" while one of the 
judges read aloud passages from the Bible. 

Usually the first stroke brought blood. Not infre- 
quently the fifth began to lacerate the flesh. Some of 
them, who were flogged, because of their apparent in- 
ability, physically, to withstand the strain, were at- 
tested to have but eighteen strokes. Paul was always 
given the limit. (Sometimes, he says ^^ stripes above 
measure.") 

The question arises. How did he stand it? There 

[79] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

is only one reply : The Source of his Faith became the 
Source of his stren^h. Of this he says (II Cor. 
12:9-10): 

''My grace is sufficient . . . , for 
My strength is made perfect in weakness. 
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather 
Glory in my infirmities, 
That the Power of Christ may rest upon me. 
Therefore, I take pleasure: 

In infirmities. 

In reproaches, 

In necessities. 

In persecutions ; for 
When I am weak, then am I strong. ' ' 

The three times he mentions that he was ''beaten 
with rods" was a different proposition. This punish- 
ment was inflicted by order of the State. 

On his first missionary journey, Paul was stoned at 
Lystra and left for dead. 

It is little wonder that when he was an old man, 
perhaps sixty years of age, and was in prison, and 
even out of it, that Luke, Timotheus, Titus, Philemon 
and several others had to do his writing for him. 

Saul was born in Tarsus, a city in Southern Asia 
Minor, 350 miles straight north of Jerusalem. Speak- 
ing of the place of his birth, he, himself, said (Acts 

[80] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

21:39) : ''I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, 
a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city." 

There is no record giving the exact date of his birth, 
but it is evident that he was born about the same time 
as John and Jesus. When he was quite young, the 
family removed to Jerusalem. Whether or not he was 
personally acquainted with Jesus is a matter of con- 
jecture. II Cor. 5:16, states: ''Though we have 
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know 
we him no more." 

On the other hand Paul specifically states in Gala- 
tians 1: 19, that he knew the Lord's brother, James. 
He says: ''But other of the Apostles saw I none, save 
James, the Lord's brother." Although they lived at 
the same time and were reared in adjoining countries 
— neighborhoods, so to speak — and although Paul 
knew the Lord's brother, James, it is not conclusive 
evidence that he was personally acquainted with Jesus 
himself. 

After the crucifixion, and the ascension, of Christ, 
his disciples began to preach, and the cult which his 
influence had founded began to grow. 

The civil authorities at Jerusalem feared the results 
of this, and so they hired Saul to help scatter the fol- 
lowers of this new faith and get rid of them — even 
by death, if necessary. 

[8i] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Saul is first introduced in the role of persecutor at 
the stoning to death of the martyred Stephen. In 
Acts 7 : 58, we find : ^ ^ the witnesses laid down their 
clothes at a young man 's feet, whose name was Saul. ' ' 
Whether or not he was directly responsible for the 
stoning of Stephen, doesn't matter, he was morally 
responsible for it. Acts 8 : 1, declares : ' ' Saul was 
consenting unto his death. ' ' 

Immediately after this, Saul grew very brazen. 
Acts 8: 3, states: ^^As for Saul, he made HAVOC of 
the church, entering into every house, and, hailing men 
and women, committed them to prison,'^ He seemed 
to be inspired by a fanatical hate against the followers 
of Jesus. 

While punishing, remorselessly, the members of this 
new cult at Jerusalem and thereabout, he heard that 
they had started up strong at the city of Damascus, 
about 150 miles to the north. Leaving his unholy task 
at Jerusalem, and with vengeance in his soul, he 
started to Damascus to stamp out this new zeal there, 
at the point of the sword. 

Christ had stood enough ! His young following that 
he had left on earth needed help. He knew the force 
of Saul; knew that if his energy and abilities were 
swung into the right direction, much good might be 
accomplished. 

[82] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

So, on the public road to Damascus, near the noon 
hour, the Lord halted Saul abruptly, and speaking to 
him out of a cloud of fire, asked: '^Saul, Saul, why 
persecutest thou me?" 

Saul replied, ''Who art thou. Lord?" 

The Lord said, ' ' I am Jesus whom thou persecutest : 
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." 

Saul was astonished and he began to tremble with 
fear, and asked: ''Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do?" 

The Lord replied: "Arise, go into the city, and it 
shall be told thee what thou must do." 

And when Saul arose from the earth where he had 
been knocked down by a pillar of fire from the skies, 
he was blind. 

He continued without sight for three days. Then 
the Lord sent one of his own disciples, Ananias, who 
was at Damascus, to give him back his sight. Enter- 
ing the house where Saul was confined, he said: 
"Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared 
unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, 
that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with 
the Holy Ghost." 

"And he received his sight forthwith, and arose, 
and was baptized. ' ' 

We are now to deal with a new man — Paul, the 

[83] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Apostle, instead of Saul the brutalist. (Although of 
course he did not assume the Roman name of Paul 
until later on.) 

John, the first great Jew of the New Testament 
(really the connecting link between the two Testa- 
ments), had been created to baptize; Paul, the last \ 
great Jew, had been commissioned to evangelize. We 
must now look at him in his new sphere. 

He made three great missionary journeys, in addi- 
tion to his ill-fated trip to Rome. The first one took * 
him two years; the second one, three years; and the 
third one, four years. He traveled more miles, did 
more preaching and built more churches than any 
other man that ever lived. He wrote 14 of the 27 
books which constitute the New Testament Bible, 
known as the ^^ Pauline Epistles,'' beginning with 
Romans and ending with Hebrews. 

During the second one of these great missionary 
journeys, Paul stopped at Athens, the capital of 
Greece. Here he delivered one of the greatest speeches 
of his life, commonly spoken of as Paul's Speech on 
Mars Hill. In it he said (Acts 17: 22-31) : 

^'Ye Men of Athens: I perceive that in all things 
ye are too superstitious. For, as I pass'^d by, and be- 
held your devotions, I found an altar with this in- 
scription : 

[84] 




(RAPHAEL) 

ST. PAUL 

^^I am a man which am a Jew, of Tarsus/^ 
(Acts 21: 39.) 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

^ To THE Unknown God. ' 
Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, him declare 
I unto you. 

''God that made the world and all things therein, 
seeing that he is lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth 
not in temples made with hands ; neither is worshipped 
with men's hands, as though he needed anything, see- 
ing he giveth life to all, and breath and all things ; and 
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell 
on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the 
times afore appointed, and the bounds of their habita- 
tion; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they 
might feel after him and find him, though he be not 
far away from any one of us : for in him we live and 
move and have our being; as certain also of your 
Poets have said : ' For we are also his offspring. ' 

''Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, 
we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto 
gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's 
device. 

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; 
but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: 
because he hath appointed a day, in the which he 
will judge the world in righteousness by THAT MAN 
whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assur- 
ance unto all men, in that he hath 

Raised Him from the Dead." 

[85] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

After this Paul preached for eighteen months at 
Corinth (Acts 18: 11), and later for three months in 
the synagogue at Ephesus (Acts 19:8). Then, he 
taught for two years in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 
19:9-10). 

His success elicited the jealousy of the civil authori- 
ties, just as that of Jesus had done. Accordingly, 
criminal proceedings were begun against him. He 
was tried three times at Caesarea, in Palestine, — 
once before Felix, once before Festus, and once before 
King Agrippa. Later he was tried twice before Nero 
at Rome. At each trial Paul defended himself. He 
had been ^^ schooled at the feet of Gamaliel," and he 
was a convincing public speaker — beyond all doubt 
one of the best of his day. 

PAUL'S TRIAL BEFORE FELIX 

In Paul's first trial before Governor Felix, his ac- 
cusers secured the finest orator and best criminal law- 
yer in the country, to prosecute him. His name was 
TertuUus. 

The Accusation 

In outlining the case to Felix, TertuUus said : * ' See- 
ing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that 
very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy 

[86] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

providence, we accept it always, and in all places, most 
noble Felix, with all thankfulness. 

*' Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious to 
thee, I pray thee that thou wouldst hear us of thy 
clemency a few words. 

*^For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, 
and a mover of sedition among all the Jews through- 
out the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the 
Nazarenes; who also hath gone about to profane the 
temple: whom we took and would have adjudged 
according to our law; but the chief captain, Lysias, 
came upon us, and with great violence took him away 
out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come 
unto thee by examining of whom thyself mayest take 
knowledge of all these things whereof we accuse him. ' ' 

Paul's Defense 

'^ Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many 
years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheer- 
fully answer for myself. 

** Because that thou mayest understand that there 
are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem 
for to worship ; and they neither found me in the tem- 
ple disputing with any man, neither raising up the 
people, neither in the synagogues nor in the temple, 
neither can they prove the things of which they now 
accuse me. 

[87] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

^ * But this I confess unto thee : That after the way 
which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my 
fathers, believing all things which are written in the 
law and in the prophets ; and have hope toward God, 
which they themselves allow, that there shall be a 
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the un- 
just. 

^^And herein do I exercise myself, to have always 
a conscience void of offense toward God and toward 
men. 

'^Now, after many years, I came to bring alms to 
my nation, and offerings. Whereupon certain Jews 
from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither 
with multitude nor with tumult. Who ought to have 
been here before thee, and object, if they had ought 
against me; or else let these same here say if they 
have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before 
the council ; except it be for this one voice that I cried 
standing among them. Touching the resurrection of 
the Dead, I am called in question by you this day.'' 

Verdict of Felix 

^^When Lysias, the chief captain, shall come down, 
I shall know the uttermost of your matter. ' ' 

Paul was then remanded into the custody of a cen- 
turion. 

[88] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

Later, Felix ruled: ''Go thy way for this time: 
when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.'' 
(Acts 24: 25.) 

PAUL'S TRIAL BEFORE FESTUS 
The Accusation 

"The Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood 
round about, and laid many and grievous complaints 
against Paul, which they could not prove" (Acts 
25:7). 

Paul's Defense 

"Neither against the law of the Jews, neither 
against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I 
offended anything at all. ' ' 

Interruption by the Court: '^Wilt thou go up to 
Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before 
me?" 

Paul's Reply: '^I stand at Caesar's judgment seat 
where I ought to be judged. To the Jews have I done 
no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an 
offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, 
I refuse not to die ; but if there be none of these things 
whereof they accuse me, no man may deliver me unto 
them. I appeal unto Caesar." (Paul, being a Roman 
subject, was wholly within his legal rights in demand- 
ing this change of venue.) 

[89] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Verdict of Festus 

^^Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar 
Shalt thou go." (Acts 25: 12.) 

PAUL'S TRIAL BEFORE AGRIPPA 

The Accusation 

Festus, before whom Paul was last tried, presented 
the case to King Agrippa, himself. In making a state- 
ment of it to the Court, he said: 

''Ejng Agrippa, and all men who are present here 

WITH US: 

''Ye see this man about whom all the multitude 
of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem 
and also here, crying that he ought not to live any- 
longer. But when I found that he had committed 
nothing worthy of death, and that he himself had 
appealed to (Caesar) Augustus, I have determined to 
send him, of whom I have no certain thing to write 
unto my Lord. Wherefore, I have brought him forth 
before you, and especially before thee, King 
Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have 
somewhat to write. 

' ' For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a pris- 
oner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against 
him." 

[90] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

Paul's Defense 

^^I think myself happy, King Agrippa, for I shall 
answer for myself, this day, before thee, touching all 
the things whereof I am accused of the Jews ; especially 
because I know thee to be expert in all customs and 
questions which are among the Jews : wherefore, I be- 
seech thee to hear me patiently. 

^'Mj manner of life, from my youth, which was at 
first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all 
the Jews, which knew me from the beginning — if they 
would testify — that after the most straightest sect of 
our religion I lived at Pharisee. 

^'And now I stand and am judged for the hope of 
the promise made of God unto our fathers ; unto which 
promise, our twelve tribes, instantly serving God, day 
and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, King 
Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. 

''Why should it be thought a thing incredible with 
you, that God should raise the dead? 

''I verily thought with myself that I ought to do 
many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Naza- 
reth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and 
many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having 
received authority from the chief priests; and when 
they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. 
And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and 

[91] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly 
mad against them, I persecuted them — even unto 
strange cities. 

''Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with au- 
thority and commission from the chief priests, at mid- 
day, King, I saw in the way a light from heaven, 
above the brightness of the sun, shining round-about 
me and them which journeyed with me/' 

(Here Paul reviewed in detail the account of his 
conversion, and then continued:) 

''Whereupon, King Agrippa, I was not disobedi- 
ent unto the heavenly vision; but shewed first unto 
them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and then to the 
Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, and 
do works meet for repentance. 

"For these causes the Jews caught me in the tem- 
ple, and went about to kill me. 

' ' Having, therefore, obtained help from God, I con- 
tinue unto this day, witnessing both to small and 
great, saying none other things than those which the 
prophets and Moses did say should come, — that Christ 
should suffer, and that he should be the first that 
should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto 
the people and to the Gentiles." 

Interruption by Festus: "Paul, thou art beside 
thyself ; much learning doth make thee mad. ' ' 

Paul's Reply: "I am not mad, most noble Festus, 

[92] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. 
For the King knoweth of these things, before whom 
also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of 
these things are hidden from him, for this thing was 
not done in a corner. 

'^King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I 
know thou believest. ' ' 

Interruption by Agrippa: ''Almost thou persuad- 
est me to be a Christian." 

Paul 's Reply : ' ' I would to God that not only thou, 
but also all that hear me this day, were both almost 
and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.'' 

Verdict op Agrippa 

' ' This man might have been set at liberty, if he had 
not appealed unto Caesar." (Acts 26 : 32.) 

Paul was then remanded into the custody of Julius, 
a centurion of Augustus' band; and they promptly 
set sail for Rome. 

Paul's Trip to Rome 

Paul's trip, with other prisoners, and accompanied 
by Luke and Aristarchus, from Caesarea where his 
three trials had been held, across the Mediterranean 
Sea to Rome, to be brought before Caesar, is a romance 
unsurpassed in either Biblical or in Secular Literature. 

They set sail at Caesarea, on the coast of Palestine, 

[93] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

in ''a ship of Adramyttium/ ' The next day they 
stopped at Sidon. When they departed from Sidon, 
a bad storm was prevailing, so they went in back of 
the island of Cyprus, and then stopped at Myra on the 
coast of Lysia. Here they were transferred (all 
told 276 persons) to an Alexandrian corn ship bound 
for Italian ports. 

From Myra they went to Cnidus, and then turned 
south past Salmone and headed into the port of ' ' The 
Fair Havens," on the southern side of the island of 
Crete. 

They were away behind schedule, and as winter was 
coming on, Paul admonished them to stop there until 
spring; but the captain of the boat decided to go to 
Phoenice near the west end of the island for the 
winter. 

Shortly after they set sail, a violent tempest arose 
and they drifted away out of their course, below the 
island of Clauda and got swept into the lower Adriatic 
sea. Here the ship was tossed about terribly by the 
wind and the swells for fourteen days and nights. 

Finally they drifted near to the mouth of a creek on 
the island of Malta, and decided to steer the ship into 
it ; but the water was shallow and the boat grounded. 
*^The fore part stuck fast, but the hinder part was 
broken with the violence of the waves." 

The officers of the ship held a council and decided 

[94] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

to kill all of the prisoners, lest any of them should 
escape. Because of Paul, however, the centurion inter- 
fered and asked that all on board who could swim be 
given the privilege of jumping into the sea and swim- 
ming ashore. This plan was adopted. Those who 
could not swim clung to pieces of wreckage, and finally 
reached shore, so that, luckily, all were saved (Acts 
27:44). 

As soon as they got ashore, the natives built a fire 
to warm them. ^^And when Paul had gathered a 
bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came 
a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And 
when the barbarians (islanders) saw the venomous 
beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, 
'No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he 
hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to 
live.' " 

After Paul shook the beast loose from his hand and 
had thrown it into the fire, he did not swell up, as 
a result of the poison, and die; therefore, they mar- 
veled again among themselves and said that ''he was 
a God. ' ' Evidently they had at least a vague idea of 
Christ's promises in Mark 16:17-18, "And these 
signs shall follow them that believe: In my name 
shall they take up serpents, . . . and they shall re- 
cover;" or the words in Luke 10: 19, "Behold I give 

[95] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions 
. . . and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ' ' 

The leader of the island tribe was named Publius. 
His father ' ' lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux. ' ' 
Paul ^ Sprayed and laid his hands on him and healed 
him." 

After three months they departed from Malta in a 
second ship from Alexandria, which had wintered in 
a harbor of the island, for Rome. They landed at 
Puteoli, on the coast of Italy; went ashore and made 
the remainder of the journey overland. 

^^And when (they) came to Rome, the centurion 
delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; 
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a sol- 
dier that kept him." 

Paul in Rome 

Three days after they had arrived in Rome, Paul 
called the leading Jews of the city together and ad- 
dressed them, saying: 

''Men and Bretheren: Though I have committed 
nothing against the people or customs of our fathers, 
yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the 
hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined 
me, would have let me go, besause there was no cause 
of death in me; but when the Jews spake against it, 

[96] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I 
had ought to accuse my nation of. 

'^For this cause, therefore, have I called for you, 
to see you, and to speak with you; because, that for 
the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. ' ' 

He was held in prison at Rome for two years, and 
then tried before Nero and acquitted. 

After this he made several notable trips, — some 
able scholars arguing that he went as far west on his 
missionary journeys as Spain; but tangible evidence 
of this is lacking. 

In the year A. D. 65, Paul was re-arrested, tried a 
second time before Nero's Court at Rome, condemned 
to death, and finally beheaded on the Ostian Way just 
outside of the city, during the summer of A. D. 66. 

The second greatest man that ever lived had per- 
ished. But not until he had so lit up the World with 
the Fire and Zeal of the Christ, that he projected 
himself on down through the ages for 2,000 years to 
the present day, and will continue to do so to the 
End of Time. 



[97] 



THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

Summary 

Paul was about the same age as John and Jesus. 
(The exact date of his birth is unknown.) 

He was bom at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Left that city 
at an early age and went to Jerusalem. 

Had no known brothers, but had one sister (Acts 
23:16). 

He was schooled by Gamaliel. 

Was splendidly educated. Spoke Hebrew, Greek, 
Latin, Aramaic and Cilician. 

He never married. 

Was a tent-maker by trade. 

Was small of stature — weak. Had either opthal- 
mic infirmity or epilepsy. Prayed (II Cor. 12: 7) for 
the removal of the ^^ thorn in (his) flesh." 

Was miraculously converted against his own will. 

Was the world's greatest missionary. 

Suffered much because of his faith. 

Had five trials. (The same number as Jesus.) 

Died a martyr's death, after declaring: ^'I have 
fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I 
have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for 
me a crown of righteousness. ' ' 



[98] 



PAUL THE APOSTLE 

RECAPITULATION 

These ^' Three Jewish Martyrs" all lived and died 
martyrs' deaths for an exemplification of the Faith 
which Jesus came to earth to establish. 

The teachings and the blood sacrifices of these three 
Martyrs now domineer the thought of the world. 

They were three of the greatest Jews in all history, 
and it is around them quite largely as a nucleus that 
the New Testament is built up. 

John the Baptist and Jesus the Reformer were blood 
relatives. 

John and Jesus were poor ; Paul came from a rather 
wealthy family. 

All three lived and died bachelors,- — it evidently 
being a part of the Divine plan to strike down these 
three leading Actors without offspring. 

John never wrote anything. Jesus wrote only on 
the ground where it was promptly obliterated. Paul 
was a prolific writer. He wrote the first systematic 
Theology extant. 

John onlv preached a year and a half. Jesus 
preached a little over three years. Paul preached 
about thirty years. 

John and Paul were beheaded. Jesus was crucified. 



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THREE JEWISH MARTYRS 

''In the beauty of the lilies 

Christ was bom, across the sea, 

With a glory in his bosom 
That transfigures you and me ; 

As he died to make men holy, 
Let us die to make men free 
While God goes marching on. ' ' 



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Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 



